SUZUKA, Japan — Max Verstappen refused to start his media session on Thursday in Japan until a journalist left the room over a question asked at last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
After Verstappen, 28, sat down to begin his pre-race weekend media briefing with the written media in Red Bull’s hospitality unit on Thursday at Suzuka, he interjected before the first question could be asked.
“One second — I’m not speaking before he’s leaving,” Verstappen said, gesturing towards a journalist from The Guardian stood at the back of the room.
When the reporter asked if he was being serious, Verstappen replied: “Yep.”
He then confirmed it was over a question the journalist had asked following last year’s season finale in Abu Dhabi over an incident at the Spanish Grand Prix with George Russell.
“Yep. Get out,” Verstappen told the reporter, who was picking up his dictaphone from the table in front of the Red Bull driver.
“You’re really that upset about it?” asked the reporter, to which Verstappen again replied: “Yep, get out.”
Once the reporter had left the room, Verstappen said: “Now we can start.”
In the post-race press conference for last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where Verstappen had fallen just two point shy of the world championship, the same reporter had asked if the Dutchman had any regrets over the incident in Spain.
Verstappen had clashed with George Russell in the closing stages of that race, appearing to ram into the side of the Mercedes car on purpose. It led to a time penalty that dropped him five places in the final classification, costing nine championship points.
“You forget all the other stuff that happened in my season,” Verstappen said in reply to the question in Abu Dhabi, having fallen over 100 points off the championship lead with 10 rounds remaining.
“The only thing you mention is Barcelona. I knew that (question) would come. You’re giving me a stupid grin now.” The video of the exchange went viral on social media in the wake of the race.
It’s not the first time that Verstappen has refused to engage with part of the media. In 2022, he declined to talk with Sky Sports at the Mexico City Grand Prix due to a “constant kind of like digging, being disrespectful, especially one particular person.”
The response followed a comment made on Sky Sports’ coverage at the previous race where a pundit used the word “robbed” when discussing Lewis Hamilton’s title defeat in 2021, where Verstappen clinched his maiden title in controversial fashion at the final race of the season.
Verstappen resumed his usual interactions with Sky from the following race in Brazil, saying they “drew a line under it.”
A comment that stuck with Verstappen
Analysis by Luke Smith, Senior Writer, F1
Verstappen’s refusal to start his media session until the reporter left the room made for a strange incident, one that, from all my discussions with media colleagues, is hard to recall any past example of in such public fashion on an F1 weekend.
Verstappen’s response in Abu Dhabi was firm. He felt he’d said all he had to say about what happened in Spain in previous interviews. But the exchange has clearly stuck with him, leading to this response more than three months later.
The journalist was calm in his response, confirming with Verstappen the reasons why as he collected his dictaphone and left the room. As it unfolded, an awkward silence hung in the room.
The journalist in question is highly respected both within the F1 paddock and by his peers in the media center.
The media session then proceeded as normal. Verstappen fielded questions on his sports car race at the Nurburgring last weekend, an outing in a Nissan GT-R at Fuji Speedway earlier this week, and his thoughts on the qualifying spectacle at Suzuka this weekend.
Verstappen has endured a tricky start to this season. Alongside his vocal criticism of the all-new F1 cars for 2026, which he has called “anti-racing” and “not a lot of fun,” he has also struggled for outright performance with Red Bull, scoring just eight points in the first two races.
He finished sixth in Australia after a qualifying crash meant he started the race from 20th on the grid, and then retired from the last race in China after calling his car “undriveable” following qualifying.